What a Grey Glacier tour costs
Most of what you pay to see Grey Glacier goes on the road, not on the boat. The six tours we compare cost ~$68–365 a person, and the sailings among them mostly use the same Grey III catamaran from Hotel Lago Grey, so much of the gap pays for a minibus and a guide. Below, every price sits next to what it buys, and then we add the park ticket and the other costs the listings leave out.
Thirteen trips side by side
The home page's six tours come first, then seven extras found only in these guides, each at its regular "from" price per adult on the cheaper booking site.
| Tour | From | On the water or ice | Whole outing | Transport | Group | Free cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turismo Lago Grey sailing (our pick) | ~$130 | 2 h 45 | 3 h plus the walk | None | Cabin for 98 | 24 h |
| Sailing with transport | ~$300 | Grey III sailing | 8 h | Puerto Natales | Not listed | 24 h |
| Sailing and park day | ~$300 | 2 h 45 | 12 h | Puerto Natales | 5 | 24 h |
| Park day with the beach | ~$68 | No boat | 11 h | Puerto Natales | 15–16 | 24 h |
| Ice hike | ~$365 | 2.5 h on ice | 5 h | None | 12 | 24 h |
| Go Patagonia from Punta Arenas | ~$296 | Grey sailing | 16–18 h | Punta Arenas | 10–14 | 24 h |
| Isla Yu sailing with transport | ~$259 | 2.5 h | 8 h | Puerto Natales | Not listed | 24 h |
| Howlanders sailing with pickup | ~$220 | Grey III sailing | 8 h | Puerto Natales | 20 | No |
| Go Patagonia from Puerto Natales | ~$296 | Grey sailing | 11 h | Puerto Natales | Not listed | 24 h |
| Kayak on Lago Grey | ~$250 | 2.5 h paddling | 3–4 h | None | 12 | No |
| Grey River kayak | ~$670 | 3 h paddling | Plus 2 h each way | Puerto Natales | 8 | See listing |
| W Trek Express | ~$1,190 | A hike to Grey | 5 days | Puerto Natales base | 4 | See listing |
| Park day by van | ~$75 | No boat | 12 h | Puerto Natales | 15 | See listing |
Every main tour lets you cancel free until a day before and pay later (Go Patagonia shows pay-later on Viator). Two extras refund nothing, which matters in a place where the weather moves plans.
The boat alone, and what a minibus adds
Turismo Lago Grey's 3-hour sailing, from ~$130, is the cheapest way onto the water, paid straight to the company that owns the Grey III. It buys roughly an hour out to the ice and another along its face, plus a pisco sour. It buys no ride from town, and the pier is a 2-hour drive from Puerto Natales.
Torres del Paine Adventure's sailing with transport, from ~$300, puts you on that catamaran with hotel pickup in Puerto Natales, which prices the minibus at about $170 a seat. GetYourGuide often shows it reduced to about $285. A cheaper take on the same idea is Isla Yu Patagonia's cruise tour, from ~$259, with pickup from your lodging and a guide on board. Its catch is a thin record of five reviews.
Paying for more than the sailing
Nothofagus Patagonia's sailing and park day, from ~$300, costs about what tour 2 does and adds the park's viewpoints after the 10 am boat, with five guests at most. Reviewers score its value 4.8. The catch is a 12-hour day with no food and only 21 reviews.
Torres del Paine Adventure's park day, from ~$68, is the cheapest of the six and has no boat. You walk the Lago Grey beach among stranded icebergs, but the glacier stays across the lake.
Howlanders' ice hike, from ~$365, is the only tour that puts you on the glacier itself, with no transport and a night at Grey required, as ice hiking and kayaking at Grey explains. Go Patagonia's day from Punta Arenas, from ~$296, pays mostly for distance; Grey Glacier from Punta Arenas walks through it.
One tour, two prices
- Turismo Lago Grey's sailing. ~$130 on GetYourGuide from the operator itself. Viator sells the same boat for about $180 through a reseller, ParaViajantes Tours;
- Torres del Paine Adventure's park day. ~$68 on Viator, about $87 regular on GetYourGuide, often cut there to about $83;
- Go Patagonia from Punta Arenas. ~$296 on both sites.
Reduced prices shift by date, so compare for the day you plan to travel.
The sailing plus the rest of the park
Nothofagus Patagonia's van leaves Puerto Natales at 6–6:30 am for the 10 am Grey III sailing, then spends the afternoon at the park's viewpoints with five guests at most. From ~$300, with free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead and nothing to pay until later.
What you pay on top
- The park entrance. None of the thirteen includes it. Listings quote about $30 to $49 (one says CLP 34,000), so budget roughly $35–50 a person and buy it ahead; see Torres del Paine tickets and rules;
- The Milodon Cave. About $10 (CLP 12,000) on the park days that stop there;
- Food. The sailings include a pisco sour and nothing to eat, so pack lunch on long days;
- Tips. Not included. One listing calls them customary for drivers and guides.
Listings to book with care
Howlanders' cruise with pickup, from ~$220, is fairly priced, but its catch is that it is non-refundable, and so is Howlanders' kayak on Lago Grey, from ~$250, which also needs a night at Grey. A Tangol sailing on Viator, about $238 and rated 3.9, refunds nothing either. We would skip it.
The cheapest day and the dearest
W Circuit Patagonia's park day, from ~$75, is the cheapest park day on GetYourGuide, rated 4.8 by 1,135 guests. The catch is that Grey's ice shows only from a distance.
The W Trek Express, from ~$1,190, buys five days in the park with a hiking day to Grey. Its catch is a tiny-house room in Puerto Natales shared three ways and a guide on day one only, with the park entrance, about $49, on top. Grey Glacier on foot covers the trail.
Two people, added up
A couple in Puerto Natales pays two times ~$130 on tour 1, plus two park tickets and a rental car with fuel. On tour 2 they pay two times ~$300 plus the tickets and never touch a steering wheel, so a car has to cost less than twice the $170 gap to come out ahead. On tour 4, two seats at ~$68 with tickets and cave entries still total well under one place on the ice hike. Tips come on top everywhere. From Puerto Natales, transfer or drive weighs the road, and the boat trip step by step shows what the sailing gives you.